PREVIEW: Charlotte at New York

The New York Lizards begin their three game homestand with a game against the Charlotte Hounds this Friday, May 31, at 7:30 pm at Shuart Stadium in Hempstead, N.Y. The game will be broadcast live nationally on CBS Sports Network.

The Lizards look to extend their win streak to two games as they face the sixth place Hounds for the first time this year.

Fans might have a chance to see some new Lizards draftees play as the new NCAA goal scoring leader Rob Pannell (Cornell) could possibly face off against the man he surpassed, Matt Danowski of the Charlotte Hounds. Syracuse draftee JoJo Marasco could also make an appearance for the Lizards after falling 16-10 to Duke in the Collegiate National Championship this past weekend. Potentially joining Charlotte is Pannell’s collegiate teammate Max Van Bourgondien.

The Lizards look to have the same success against the Hounds that they had against the Ohio Machine two weeks ago, winning 14-8 on May 18. New York is led Stephen Berger and Tommy Palasek, who both have six goals and three assists. Attackman Mark Matthews has also added a spark to the offense, recording six goals and two assists. May 18 marked the second game of the year the Lizards held their opponent under double digits, ranking them second in the league in goals against with 38 through four games.

Charlotte sits at 1-3 after dropping their first game of the season before finally picking up a 15-8 win over the Rattlers on May 5 and losing to the Rattlers the follwing week 13-10. The Hounds look to recover after a 12-11 loss to the Hamilton Nationals on May 17.

The Hounds are led by Ryan Young who has ten goals and three assists in four games. Young is helped by teammate Peet Poillon with nine goals including three 2-pointers and one assist. Adam Ghitelman spent the majority of time between the pipes with a 12.33 goals against average and a 0.431 save percentage.

The Lizards won both matches in the 2012 series after winning May 12 and July 28. New York picked up a 10-9 win in the first game with a stellar showing by 2012 Warrior MLL Goalie of the Year Drew Adams who had 17 saves. On offense, New York was led by Ryan Young who notched 4 goals and 2012 Cascade Rookie of the Year Matt Gibson, who also received Cascade Rookie of the Week honors for his one goal and four assist performance. The Lizards picked up the second game 13-9 in a come-from-behind win due to three goals by recently retired Lizard Brian Langtry.

Next, the Lizards will continue their homestand when the Bayhawks visit Thursday, June 6, in the first of two games at Icahn Stadium on Randalls Island in New York City. The game will be broadcast live at 7:00 pm following Inside the MLL at 6:30pm on CBS Sports Network. The Hounds return home June 8 as they face the Ohio Machine at 7:00pm.